CAIRO - The population of Egypt, the most populous Arab country, has grown 2.0 percent a year for the past 10 years, hitting 72.6 million at the time of the 2006 census, the governmentÂ’s statistics agency said on Tuesday. The growth rate is only slightly down on 2.1 percent during the previous decade which ended in 1996, suggesting diminishing returns from the governmentÂ’s family planning campaigns. In the period from 1976 to 1986 growth was 2.8 percent a year.
| Lots of young men, no opportunities, and smooth-talking recruiters talking about the glories of jihad ... |
Emigration helped to hold down the rate of population growth at home. At the time of the census, 3.9 million desparate Egyptians were living abroad, 79 percent up on 2.2 million in 1996.
The government statistics office said that the percentage of illiterates among Egyptians aged 10 or over had fallen to 29.3 percent, from 39.4 percent in 1996.
| Doing a great job there, Hosni. But they can all recite the Qu'ran. |
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